Successful first year at Graves Health and Sports Centre

Works began in April 2015 to transform the former Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre in to the £16m-state-of-the-art health facility.

Funding was provided by organisations including Sheffield City Council, Sport England, Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), British Gymnastics, National Centre of Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM), Public Health England and Places for People Leisure.

Over the past 12 months, customers at Graves Health and Sports Centre have taken part in activities more than 471,000 times. This has included going for a swim, using the gym, attending a fitness class, playing tennis and taking part in a coached activity such as gymnastics and trampolining. More than 3,500 people are also fitness members at the centre.

Councillor Mary Lea, cabinet member for culture, parks and leisure at Sheffield City Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see that the new Graves Health and Sports Centre has been so popular, and so successful, in its first year of opening.

“This is an absolutely first-class leisure centre for the south of Sheffield, bringing together swimming, gym and a huge range of sports facilities all under one roof.

“In addition, the centre is home to NHS services such as physiotherapy and podiatry, in partnership with the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, meaning that people can benefit from the very best treatment in the heart of their community.

“I hope that people who haven’t visited the centre yet will make the most of the free fitness activities taking place this weekend, and take this free opportunity to experience the Graves Health and Sports Centre for themselves.”

Health and wellbeing plays a huge part of Graves Health and Sports Centre as it is also houses the NCSEM, which provides patients with activity advice to support long-term treatment outcomes.

The NCSEM works closely with local GP practices, universities and hospitals in Sheffield. At the heart of the project is Move More, an evidence-based, city-wide public health programme, which aims to re-engineer physical activity back into daily life through meaningful changes to the physical and social environment of a city, including communities, schools, workplaces and transport infrastructure.

Glenn Carlin, Operations Manager at National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, said: “The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine is working hard to integrate mainstream physical activity into NHS health promotion.

“We’re doing this through our brand Move More, and together with our partners Sheffield Hallam University, we’re bringing cutting-edge treatments to the people of Sheffield.

“Our main focus is supporting people to be more physically active to help manage long term health conditions. We currently host more than 400 clinics in the three NCSEM sites across the city and see more than 3,500 patients per month.

Many children are enjoying the opportunities available to learn a new sport at Graves. Thanks to the benefit of having a main pool plus an additional teaching pool, 1,000 children are learning to swim every week.

More than 900 children are discovering the joys of gymnastics and trampolining in a dedicated facility designed by British Gymnastics, where many are taught by Olympic medallist Bryony Page – who in her spare time works as a trampolining coach at the centre, as well as using the facilities as her training ground.

Around 400 children, meanwhile, are learning to play tennis across eight indoor and eight outdoor tennis courts.

Sheffield Contract Manager at Places for People Leisure, Alex Greaves, said: “We’re overwhelmed by the success of Graves Health and Sports Centre over the past 12 months. We’ve had a fantastic year and I would like to thank all our loyal customers and staff members that have contributed to the achievements.

“We have built fantastic relationships with Sheffield City Council, NCSEM, Sport England, LTA and British Gymnastics. Places for People Leisure will continue to work closely with our partners to help make Sheffield the most active city by 2020.”

Graves has hosted many events in the past 12 months including the Davis Cup Tennis Trophy Tour, ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Zoggs Oceans of Fun, The Great Britain Special Olympics plus five open tennis days offering free tennis for children.

To find out how you and your family can get start getting active at Graves Health and Sports Centre, visit the website here or call 0114 283 9900.